Centrifugal



Jan. 23, 1934.

L. ALTPETER 1,944,391

CENTRIFUGAL Filed June 1, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 If v L. ALTPETERCENTRIFUGAL Filed June 1, 19,31 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ll I Patented Jan. 23,1934 CENTRIFUGAL' Ludwig Altpeter, Essen, Germany Application June I1931, Serial No.

541,419, and

in Czechoslovakia and Poland June 5, 1930 4 Claims.

My invention relates to centrifugals and more particularly tocontinuously rotating centrifugals for dehydrating sludge or granularmaterial.

It is an object of my invention to provide a 6 centrifugal in which thedried material can be withdrawn without interrupting the fresh supply ofmaterial.

Centrifugals are known consisting of two or more cups in which thecentrifuged liquid is withdrawn through nozzles and the centrifugal isperiodically opened in order to withdraw the dried material. Thisinvolves the drawback that after some material has been deposited in thecentrifugal the fluid components of the ma- 16 terial subsequently fedinto the centrifugal must pass through the dried material deposited onvthe walls of the centrifugal, so that the time required for separatingthe components is increased. It is further very difilcult to seal thecups in a satisfactory manner.

It is an object of my invention to avoid these drawbacks. This isaccomplished by providing within a cylindrical shell an axially movabledisc rotating along with the shell and feeding the material to betreated to one or the other or alternately to both sides of the disc. Bymoving the disc in axial direction the material to be centrifuged isuniformly distributed on the walls of the shell. W In the preferredembodiment of my invention the ends of the shell are formedwiththickened portions on which the material, having been predehydrated inthe middle zone, is de posited and fully dehydrated to be thereafter Iremoved by fresh material propelled by thedisc in the further operationof the device. The,

fluid components are withdrawn by means of hollow members or nozzlesarranged on the in nor surface of the shell. I prefer arranging nozzlesif the material to be centrifuged can be readily dehydrated, but if thematerial has the form of a sludge which can be dehydrated only withdifiiculty, I provide longitudinal dehydrating members extending overthe entire lengthof the shell, said members forming guides for the discwhen it is moved in axial direction.

The disc according to this invention can be used in connection withscreen shells also. The closed shells are adapted particularly fordehydrating fine coal sludges and sludge-like or granular materialcontaining acid, basic or other fluid components' In the drawingsaflixed to this specification and forming part thereof some embodimentsof my invention are illustrated diagrammatically by way of' example. I

In the drawings,

Figs. 1 and 2 are sectional elevations of a centrifugal from which driedmatter is withdrawn at both ends. showing the disc in its uppermost andlowermost position, respectively,

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section along line 3-3 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a section of the drum shell drawn to a larger scale,

Fig. 5 is a section of a modified form of the shell drawn to a largerscale.

Referring to the drawings, 1 is the shell of the centrifugal, 2 is adisc axially displaceablealong the shaft 3 of the centrifugal and 4 is apulley arranged on the upper end of the shaft 3. The

disc 2 is rotated along with the centrifugal and can be displaced by anysuitable hand-operated or automatically operated means, for instancemechanicalor electrical devices. In the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and2 the disc is displaced by hydraulic or pneumatic pressure meanscomprising a piston 5 movable in a cylinder 6. The piston 5 is connectedto the body of the disc 2 by means of rods 7 or the like.

30 is a feed pipe, 31 is a waste pipe, 32 and 33 are connecting pipeswhich can be connected alternately with the feed pipe 30 and the wastepipe 31, respectively, by means of a control device 34 well known in theart, operable by means of a hand lever 35. 36 is a fixed socket intowhich the lower end of the shaft 3 projects. The inner wall of thesocket 36 is provided with two annular' grooves '37 and 38 to which theconnecting pipes 32 and 33 are connected by means of radial channels37a. 38a in the body of the socket, respectively. 39 and 40 are channelsin the body of the shaft 3 connecting the grooves 37 and 38 with radialchannels '41 and 42 in the wall of the cylinder 6, respectively. Thelever 35 can be actuated automatically in dependency upon the quantityof material to be centrifugated, by means of a suitable device (notshown), but may also be manually operated.

The disc 2 comprises a top part 11 connected to the bottom part by meansof curved ridges 43 defining between them sector-shaped slots 10. Thetop part of the disc 2 has a portion 44 extending upwardly in inclineddirection, so that 103 an annular space 12 is formed between theinclined portion 44 and the hub 45 of the disc 2. His a casing enclosingthe centrifugal. 14 is a feed pipe, 15 and 16 are branch pipesprojecting into the casing and connected with pipe 14 of the curvedridges posited on the into the space directly through by means of anadjustable valve 1'7. In the position of the valve shown in Fig. 1 thepipe 14 is connected to the branch pipe 15. The branch pipes 15 and 16differ in length and it can be seen from the drawings that in theuppermost position of the disc 2 the material is fed to the annularspace 12 and through the slots 10 to the space below the disc 2. Whenthe disc is in its lowermost position (Fig. 2) the valve 1'? is adjustedin such manner that it connects the pipe 1% with the branch pipe 16 sothat the material is fedto the space above the disc 2. 18 is anotherfeed pipe comprising a valve 19 and'branch pipes 20, 21 and designed forfeeding a cleaning liquid into the centrifugal in order to free thematerial from soluble material, for instance salts, grease or the like.In Figs. 1 and 2 the valve 19 is shown in its neutral position, theconnection of the pipe 18 and the branch pipes 20 and 21 beinginterrupted. In order to withdraw the liquid irom the centriiugallongitudinal nozzle members 22 are provided on the mid portion is of theshell 1 (Fig. 4-.) The nozzle members 22 are hollow pieces ofrectangular cross section (Fig. 3) provided with longitudinal slots atin order to withdraw the liquid. The top portion ll of the disc 2 isprovided with circumferential recesses 48 engaging the nozzle members22, so that the latter form guides for the disc 2. According to Fig. 3eight nozzle members 22 are provided, but if desired, more or lessmembers could be provided. Preferably the members are arranged at equaldistances along the circumference of the shell 1.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 5 the longitudinal nozzle members 22 arereplaced by a pair of circular nozzles 23 arranged adjacent to thethickened end portions 2"! of the shell described hereinafter. In thisembodiment no recesses need be provided in the upper part 1101! the disc2.

The liquid is delivered from the longitudinal nozzle members 22 throughopenings 24 of the shell 1 into an annular chamber 25 from which it iswithdrawn by means of a pipe 26. When circular nozzles 23 are provided,they project the openings 2-1 into the chamber 25.

The operation of the device is as follows:

The shell 1 is rotated by means of abelt (not shown) engaging the pulley4. By the rotation of the shell the disc 2 is rotated also and in view43 and the slots 10 acts as a centrifugal pump. During the operation ofthe device the disc 2 is axially displaced to and fro by means of thepressure device 5, 6. By this movement of the disc the solid componentsdemid portion 46 of the shell 1 are shifted upwardly or downwardlyin-the direction towards the thickened end portions 2'7. The thickenedportions retain the solid materials until the disc 2 has accomplishedthe next to and fro motion after which the material is expelled betwenthe shell 1 and the casing 13. The material is then delivered to thehopper 28 forming the lower part of the casing 13.

It is seen from the foregoing that the feeding of the sludge and thewithdrawal of the solid material can be accomplished continuouslywithout interruption and that the fed materials do not get into touchwith the materials already dried and deposited, so'that a considerableincrease of eniciency is obtained.

My invention can be modified so that solid materials are withdrawnmerely at one end of the shell insteadof at both ends. In thismodification, however, the feeding of the sludge must be ma aminterrupted periodically, but the disc 2 can be formed as a solid fiatdisc. Further the valve 1'7 can be omitted and instead. of the branchpipes 15 and 16 a single pipe is sufiicient, so that the device isconsiderably simplified.

Preferably the height of the cylindrical portion 46 of the shell 1 ischosen in such manner that the solid material deposited in thecylindrical portion corresponds to the space available in the zoneadjacent to the thickened portions 2'7. The thickened portions preventthe withdrawal of the deposited solid materials during the first to andfro movement of the disc 2. Near the thickened portions 2'] the solidmaterials form a 'conus, as indicated at 50 in Fig. 5. This material isremoved by the material propelled by the disc 2 during the next to andfro movement. Thereiore in the zone adjacent to the thickened portions2'? the material is fully dehydrated before it is delivered into thespace between the centrifugal and the casing 13.

In order to intensify this effect the inner wall of the shell 1 can beinclined as shown in Fig. 5, where inclined surfaces 29 extending fromthe mid portion of the shell to the thickened portions 2'1 are provided.

I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to theexact details of construction shown and described for obviousmodifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

In the claims afflxed to this specification no selection of anyparticular modification of the invention is intended to the exclusion ofother modifications thereof and the right to subsequently make claim toany modification not covered by these claims is expressly reserved.

I claim:.-

1. A centrifugal comprising a shell,- means for rotating said shell, adisc rotatable with and axially displaceable along the mid portion ofsaid shell and having recesses in its perimeter, thickened portions atthe ends of said shell, draining members extending along the mid portionof said shell so as to enter said recesses, and means for feedingmaterial into said shell at one side of said disc.

2. A centrifugal comprising a shell having a restricted central portion,means for rotating said shell, an end portion of reduced inside diameteron said shell, a disc rotatable with said shell,-

means for reciprocating said disc along the mid portion of said shell asfar as the inner end of said end portion, said disc having a passageadapted to connect the opposite sides of said disc. the diameter of saiddisc being substantially equal to the inside diameter of said shell atits restricted central portion, means for feeding material into saidshell at one side of said disc, and draining members connected to saidmid portion at opposite sides of said restricted central portion.

3. A centrifugal comprising a shell having a restricted central portion,means for rotating said shell, an end portion of reduced -insidediameter on said shell, adisc rotatable with said shell means forreciprocating said disc along the mic portion of said shell as far asthe inner end 0: said end portion, said disc having a passagi adapted toconnect the opposite sides of saii disc, the diameter 'ofsaid disc beingsubstantiall: equal to the inside diameter of said shell at itrestricted central portion, the walls of said she] sloping from saidrestricted portion toward th ends of said mid portion, means for feedingmate rial into said shell at one side of said disc, an

said shaft, the length of said cylinder being so determined that saiddisc is moved along said mid portion only as far as the inner end ofsaid end portion, means including passages in said shaft for admittingfluid under pressure to opposite sides of said piston, and means forfeeding material into said shell.

LUDWIG ALTPE'I'ER.

